Nigeria's Disappearing Languages

It is estimated that, if nothing is done, half
of 6000 plus languages spoken today will
disappear by the end of this century. With
the disappearance of unwritten and
undocumented languages, humanity would
lose not only a cultural wealth but also
important ancestral knowledge embedded,
in particular, in indigenous languages. “The
death of a language is like the burning of a
library.”
Ethnologist lists Nigeria as having 15
endangered languages,
According to the study of a research carried
out in 2007 in Imo and Lagos state to test
Igbo competency level of three age
groups , aged 1-5 and,6-11,and adults, a
grim picture awaits the language . The
report shows that seventy percent of
children between 6-11 years and ninety
percent of children aged five years and
below were unable to speak Igbo
language . The Igbo language will likely
become extinct in the next fifty years.
Many Yoruba adults and young elements –
wittingly or unwittingly have declare a
ceaseless war against their own language as
it is their common enemy .
Ngugi wa thiong ‘o a popular Kenyan
novelist said “for me enslavement is
knowing all the languages of the world ,but
you don’t known your own” Empowerment
is when you know your own language and
you add other languages to it
The way forward is too urge us all to start
speaking in mother tongue to our children
at home, we should promote our language
and encourage our children to speak it .

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